Crop Production and Agronomy
Planning the crop
Crop production begins with land preparation: clearing, primary tillage (plough) to break the soil, secondary tillage (harrow, cultivator) to produce a fine, level seedbed, then planting. You must be able to describe row planting versus broadcasting and explain why row planting is preferred - accurate spacing, easier weeding, precise fertilizer placement and easy thinning.
Know the cropping systems: sole cropping, monocropping, intercropping, relay cropping, strip cropping and crop rotation. Rotation works because it breaks pest and disease cycles, balances nutrient use and can include a legume to add nitrogen. A common trap is rotating crops from the same family (maize after sorghum) and expecting a disease break.
Understand the critical weed-free period (early vegetative growth), thinning to the correct stand, basal fertilizer at planting versus nitrogen top dressing at a defined growth stage, and the growth stages used to time operations. Know the main field crops - sorghum, maize, pearl millet, sunflower, groundnut, cowpea and beans - with their broad moisture, soil and maturity requirements. Harvesting and storage matter too: harvest at correct moisture, dry to a safe level, and store in a clean, dry, pest-proof place.
Worked example - plant population: on 1 ha (10,000 m²) with rows 0.75 m apart and plants 0.25 m apart in the row, each plant occupies 0.1875 m², so population = 10,000 ÷ 0.1875 = 53,333 plants per hectare. If germination is only 80%, sow 53,333 ÷ 0.80 = 66,667 seeds to achieve the target stand.